Recording of multiple television channels

ABSTRACT

In various embodiments, a selection of a television program to record may be received by a television receiver. The television program may be broadcast on a first television channel and as part of a first transponder stream. A plurality of television channels that are transmitted as part of the first transponder stream may be determined. A user interface may be presented that permits a user to select from the plurality of television channels transmitted on the first transponder stream. A selection of a second television channel from the plurality of television channels may be received. In response to the selection of the first television program to record and the selection of the second television channel from the plurality of television channels, record the first television channel and the second television channel via a single tuner.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application61/611,483, filed Mar. 15, 2012, entitled “Reception, Recording,Storage, and Manipulation of Multiple Television Channels”, the entiredisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference for allpurposes.

BACKGROUND

The advent of the digital video recorder (DVR) and the availability ofhigh-capacity computer-readable storage devices at reasonable priceshave made available many possibilities to television programming serviceproviders and television viewers alike. In recent years, televisionviewers have come to expect the ability to easily customize and managethe recording of television programming via their television receivers.

SUMMARY

In some embodiments, a television receiver configured to record multipletelevision channels concurrently is presented. The television receivermay include a tuner. The television receiver may include one or moreprocessors. The television receiver may include a memory communicativelycoupled with and readable by the one or more processors and havingstored therein processor-readable instructions. The processor-readableinstructions, when executed by the one or more processors, may cause theone or more processors to receive a selection of a television program torecord. The television program may be broadcast on a first televisionchannel. The first television channel may be transmitted on a firsttransponder stream. The instructions may cause the one or moreprocessors to determine a plurality of television channels transmittedas part of the first transponder stream. The instructions may cause theone or more processors to cause a user interface to be presented via adisplay device that permits a user to select from the plurality oftelevision channels transmitted on the first transponder stream. Theinstructions may cause the one or more processors to receive a selectionof a second television channel from the plurality of televisionchannels. The instructions may cause the one or more processors to, inresponse to the selection of the first television program to record andthe selection of the second television channel from the plurality oftelevision channels, record the first television channel and the secondtelevision channel. The first television channel and the secondtelevision channel may be received via the tuner.

Embodiments of such a television receiver may include one or more of thefollowing: The first television channel may be broadcast over a firstperiod of time. The second television channel may be broadcast over asecond period of time. The first period of time and the second period oftime may overlap. The instructions may cause the one or more processorsto set a record timer for the television program, wherein the recordtimer specifies: a television channel, a date, and a time period. Theinstructions may cause the one or more processors to, in response to theselection of the second television channel of the plurality oftelevision channels, analyze electronic programming guide informationfor the second television channel. The instructions may cause the one ormore processors to determine a first start time of the first recordtimer occurs during a scheduled broadcast of a second television programon the second television channel. The instructions may cause the one ormore processors to set the second record timer for the second televisionchannel having a second start time coinciding with the start time of thesecond television program for the second television channel. Theinstructions may cause the one or more processors to, in response to theselection of the second television channel of the plurality oftelevision channels, analyze electronic programming guide informationfor the second television channel. The instructions may cause the one ormore processors to determine a first end time of the first record timeroccurs during a scheduled broadcast of a second television program onthe second television channel. The instructions may cause the one ormore processors to set the second record timer for the second televisionchannel having a second end time coinciding with the end time of thesecond television program for the second television channel. The tunermay be configured to receive the transponder stream via a singletransponder of a satellite. The instructions may cause the one or moreprocessors to receive data from a television service provider thatindicates groupings of television channels available to be recordedconcurrently using a single tuner.

Additionally or alternatively, embodiments of such a television receivermay include one or more of the following: The instructions may cause theone or more processors to store an indication of the groupings oftelevision channels available to be recorded concurrently using thesingle tuner. The processor-readable instructions which, when executedby the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors todetermine the plurality of television channels transmitted on the firsttransponder stream may be configured to cause the one or more processorsto determine the plurality of television channels transmitted on thefirst transponder stream available for recording based on the storedindication of the groupings of television channels. Theprocessor-readable instructions which, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to determine the pluralityof television channels transmitted on the first transponder stream maybe configured to cause the one or more processors to: comparetransponder assignments for television channels in a locally-stored datastructure to determine groupings of television channels transmitted onthe transponder stream; and determine the plurality of televisionchannels transmitted on the first transponder stream based on thecompared transponder assignments. The processor-readable instructionswhich, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one ormore processors to determine the plurality of television channelstransmitted on the first transponder stream may be configured to causethe one or more processors to: determine the plurality of televisionchannels transmitted on the first transponder stream wherein, at a giventime, each television channel of the plurality of television channelsuses a same control word for descrambling.

In some embodiments, a method for recording multiple television channelsconcurrently is presented. The method may include receiving a selectionof a television program to record. The television program may bebroadcast on a first television channel. The first television channelmay be transmitted on a first transponder stream. The method may includedetermining a plurality of television channels transmitted as part ofthe first transponder stream. The method may include causing a userinterface to be presented via a display device that permits a user toselect from the plurality of television channels transmitted on thefirst transponder stream. The method may include receiving a selectionof a second television channel from the plurality of televisionchannels. The method may include, in response to the selection of thefirst television program to record and the selection of the secondtelevision channel from the plurality of television channels, recordingthe first television channel and the second television channel. Thefirst television channel and the second television channel may bereceived via the tuner.

Embodiments of such a method may include one or more of the following:The first television channel may be broadcast over a first period oftime. The second television channel may be broadcast over a secondperiod of time. The first period of time and the second period of timemay overlap. The method may include setting a record timer for thetelevision program, wherein the record timer specifies: a televisionchannel, a date, and a time period. The method may include, in responseto the selection of the second television channel of the plurality oftelevision channels, analyzing electronic programming guide informationfor the second television channel. The method may include determining afirst start time of the first record timer occurs during a scheduledbroadcast of a second television program on the second televisionchannel. The method may include setting the second record timer for thesecond television channel having a second start time coinciding with thestart time of the second television program for the second televisionchannel. The method may include, in response to the selection of thesecond television channel of the plurality of television channels,analyzing electronic programming guide information for the secondtelevision channel. The method may include determining a first end timeof the first record timer occurs during a scheduled broadcast of asecond television program on the second television channel. The methodmay include setting the second record timer for the second televisionchannel having a second end time coinciding with the end time of thesecond television program for the second television channel.

The tuner may be configured to receive the transponder stream via asingle transponder of a satellite. The method may include receiving datafrom a television service provider that indicates groupings oftelevision channels available to be recorded concurrently using a singletuner. The method may include storing an indication of the groupings oftelevision channels available to be recorded concurrently using thesingle tuner. Determining the plurality of television channelstransmitted on the first transponder stream may include determining theplurality of television channels transmitted on the first transponderstream are available for recording based on the stored indication of thegroupings of television channels. Determining the plurality oftelevision channels transmitted on the first transponder stream mayinclude: comparing transponder assignments for television channels in alocally-stored data structure to determine groupings of televisionchannels transmitted on the transponder stream; and determining theplurality of television channels transmitted on the first transponderstream based on the compared transponder assignments. Determining theplurality of television channels transmitted on the first transponderstream may include determining the plurality of television channelstransmitted on the first transponder stream wherein, at a given time,each television channel of the plurality of television channels uses asame control word for descrambling.

In some embodiments, a computer program product residing on anon-transitory processor-readable medium for recording multipletelevision channels. The computer program product may includeprocessor-readable instructions configured to cause one or moreprocessors to receive a selection of a television program to record. Thetelevision program may be broadcast on a first television channel. Thefirst television channel may be transmitted on a first transponderstream. The instructions may be configured to cause the one or moreprocessors to determine a plurality of television channels transmittedas part of the first transponder stream. The instructions may beconfigured to cause the one or more processors to cause a user interfaceto be presented via a display device that permits a user to select fromthe plurality of television channels transmitted on the firsttransponder stream. The instructions may be configured to cause the oneor more processors to receive a selection of a second television channelfrom the plurality of television channels. The instructions may beconfigured to cause the one or more processors to, in response to theselection of the first television program to record and the selection ofthe second television channel from the plurality of television channels,record the first television channel and the second television channel.The first television channel and the second television channel may bereceived via the tuner. The first television channel may be broadcastover a first period of time. The second television channel may bebroadcast over a second period of time. The first period of time and thesecond period of time may overlap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of variousembodiments may be realized by reference to the following figures. Inthe appended figures, similar components or features may have the samereference label. Further, various components of the same type may bedistinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a satellite television distributionsystem.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a television receiver that isconfigured to record multiple television channels.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of on-screen television channel groupselections for recording.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of on-screen secondary televisionchannel selections for recording.

FIG. 4B illustrates an embodiment of on-screen television channelselections for recording.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a method for recording multipletelevision channels concurrently.

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of a method for recording multipletelevision channels concurrently.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a method for using electronicprogramming guide information to ensure entire television programs arerecorded.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a method for recording multipletelevision channels based on user input.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a computer system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Conventionally, when recording a television program on a televisionchannel, a television receiver may use a tuner to receive a stream ofdata at a particular frequency that contains the television channel.Data associated with the television program may then be stored forplayback via a display device at a later time. In such conventionalarrangements, for each television channel that is recorded, a tuner ofthe television receiver may be used to receive the stream of datacontaining the television channel. As such, in a conventionalarrangement, the number of television channels recorded concurrently bythe television receiver may be greatly restricted. For example, if atelevision receiver has three tuners, only three different televisionchannels may be recorded at the same time (and/or one or more of thesethree different television channels may be output for presentation to adisplay device, such as a television).

In contrast to such conventional arrangements, it may be possible to usea single tuner to receive multiple television channels for recording(and/or presentation) concurrently using a single tuner. Multipletelevision channels that are transmitted as part of the same data stream(which may be in the form of a transponder stream) may be received usinga single tuner. As such, if multiple television channels that a userdesires to record are transmitted as part of a same transponder stream,a single tuner of a television receiver may be used to receive themultiple television channels for recording. Therefore, fewer resourcesof the television receiver may need to be devoted to recordingtelevision programs if the television programs are transmitted as partsof the same transponder stream.

Which television channels are assigned to which transponder stream maybe decided by the television service provider. As such, a user may haveno obvious way of determining which television channels are transmittedas part of the same transponder stream (and thus can be receivedconcurrently using a single tuner of the television receiver).Concurrently receiving multiple television channels may involve abroadcast of the television channels being received over a same periodof time. Embodiments detailed herein provide a user with on-screenoptions for selecting television channels to record via a single tuner.

In some embodiments, a user is presented with an option to select amongpredefined television channel groups. Each group may contain televisionchannels transmitted to the television receiver as part of a singletransponder stream. As such, for each group of television channels to berecorded concurrently, only a single tuner of the television receivermay need to be used. For each group, the specific television channelsand/or the date/times at which the television channels within the groupare recorded may be defined by the television service provider. In someembodiments, a user may define the record date/times for each group ofthe television channels.

In some embodiments, a user may be permitted to use an electronicprogramming guide (EPG) to select a television program for recording.The television receiver may determine which other television channelsare also available for recording using the same transponder. The usermay then be presented with an on-screen selection indicating one or moreother television channels which can be recorded concurrently using asingle tuner. The record times of such other television channels may beadjusted such that recording on each of these other television channelsbegins at a start of a television program and ends at an end of atelevision program.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a satellite television distributionsystem 100. While embodiments detailed herein may be applied to varioustelevision distribution systems, including cable and IP, a satellitetelevision distribution system is provided as an example. Satellitetelevision distribution system 100 may include: television serviceprovider system 110, satellite transmitter equipment 120, satellites130, satellite dish 140, television receiver 150, and television 160.Alternate embodiments of satellite television distribution system 100may include fewer or greater numbers of components. While only onesatellite dish 140, television receiver 150, and television 160(collectively referred to as “user equipment”) are illustrated, itshould be understood that multiple (e.g., tens, thousands, millions)instances of user equipment may receive television signals fromsatellites 130.

Television service provider system 110 and satellite transmitterequipment 120 may be operated by a television service provider. Atelevision service provider may distribute television channels,on-demand programming, programming information, and/or other services tousers. Television service provider system 110 may receive feeds of oneor more television channels from various sources. Such televisionchannels may include multiple television channels that contain the samecontent (but may be in different formats, such as high-definition andstandard-definition). To distribute such television channels to users,feeds of the television channels may be relayed to user equipment viaone or more satellites via transponder streams. Satellite transmitterequipment 120 may be used to transmit a feed of one or more televisionchannels from television service provider system 110 to one or moresatellites 130. While a single television service provider system 110and satellite transmitter equipment 120 are illustrated as part ofsatellite television distribution system 100, it should be understoodthat multiple instances of transmitter equipment may be used, possiblyscattered geographically to communicate with satellites 130. Suchmultiple instances of satellite transmitting equipment may communicatewith the same or with different satellites. Different televisionchannels may be transmitted to satellites 130 from different instancesof transmitting equipment. For instance, a different satellite dish ofsatellite transmitter equipment 120 may be used for communication withsatellites in different orbital slots.

Satellites 130 may be configured to receive signals, such as streams oftelevision channels, from one or more satellite uplinks such assatellite transmitter equipment 120. Satellites 130 may relay receivedsignals from satellite transmitter equipment 120 (and/or other satellitetransmitter equipment) to multiple instances of user equipment viatransponder streams. Different frequencies may be used for uplinksignals 170 from transponder stream 180. Satellites 130 may be ingeosynchronous orbit. Each satellite 130 may be in a different orbitalslot, such that the signal paths between each satellite, transmitterequipment, and user equipment vary. Each satellite 130 may have multipletransponders operating at different transmit frequencies. Multiplesatellites 130 may be used to relay television channels from televisionservice provider system 110 to satellite dish 140. Different televisionchannels may be carried using different satellites and/or differenttransponders. Different television channels may also be carried usingdifferent transponders of the same satellite; thus, such televisionchannels may be transmitted at different frequencies and/or differentfrequency ranges. As an example, a first and second television channelmay be carried on a first transponder of satellite 130-1 (and thus bepart of a first transponder stream). A third, fourth, and fifthtelevision channel may be carried using a different satellite or adifferent transponder of the same satellite relaying the transponderstream at a different frequency (and thus be part of a secondtransponder stream). A transponder stream transmitted by a particulartransponder of a particular satellite may include a finite number oftelevision channels, such as seven. Accordingly, if many televisionchannels are to be made available for viewing and recording, multipletransponder streams may be necessary to transmit all of the televisionchannels to the instances of user equipment.

Satellite dish 140 may be a piece of user equipment that is used toreceive transponder streams from one or more satellites, such assatellites 130. Satellite dish 140 may be provided to a user for use ona subscription basis to receive television channels provided by thetelevision service provider system 110, satellite transmitter equipment120, and/or satellites 130. Satellite dish 140 may be configured torelay transponder streams from multiple satellites and/or multipletransponders of the same satellite to television receiver 150. Based onthe characteristics of television receiver 150 and/or satellite dish140, it may only be possible to capture transponder streams from alimited number of transponders concurrently. For example, a tuner oftelevision receiver 150 may only be able to tune to a single transponderstream from a transponder of a single satellite at a time.

In communication with satellite dish 140 may be one or more sets ofreceiving equipment. Receiving equipment may be configured to decodesignals received from satellites 130 via satellite dish 140 for displayon a display device, such as television 160. Receiving equipment may beincorporated as part of a television or may be part of a separatedevice, commonly referred to as a set-top box (STB). Receiving equipmentmay include a satellite tuner configured to receive television channelsvia a satellite. In FIG. 1, receiving equipment is present in the formof television receiver 150. As such, television receiver 150 may decodesignals received via satellite dish 140 and provide an output totelevision 160. FIG. 2 provides additional detail of a televisionreceiver. A television receiver is defined to include set-top boxes(STBs) and also circuitry having similar functionality that may beincorporated with another device. For instance, circuitry similar tothat of television receiver 150 may be incorporated into a television.As such, while FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of television receiver150 as separate from television 160, it should be understood that inother embodiments, similar functionality may be present in a televisionreceiver integrated with television 160.

Television 160 may be used to present video and/or audio decoded bytelevision receiver 150. Television receiver 150 may also output adisplay of one or more interfaces to television 160, such as anelectronic programming guide (EPG). In some embodiments, a displaydevice other than a television may be used.

Uplink signal 170-1 represents a signal between satellite transmitterequipment 120 and satellite 130-1. Uplink signal 170-2 represents asignal between satellite transmitter equipment 120 and satellite 130-2.Each of uplink signals 170 may contain streams of one or more differenttelevision channels. For example, uplink signal 170-1 may contain acertain group of television channels, while uplink signal 170-2 containsa different grouping of television channels. Each of these televisionchannels may be scrambled such that unauthorized persons are preventedfrom accessing the television channels.

Transponder stream 180-1 represents a signal between satellite 130-1 andsatellite dish 140. Transponder stream 180-2 represents a signal betweensatellite 130-2 and satellite dish 140. Each of transponder streams 180may contain one or more different television channels in the form oftransponder streams, which may be at least partially scrambled. Forexample, transponder stream 180-1 may include a first transponder streamcontaining a first group of television channels, while transponderstream 180-2 may include a second transponder stream containing adifferent group of television channels. A satellite may transmitmultiple transponder streams to user equipment. For example, a typicalsatellite may relay thirty-two transponder streams via thirty-twotransponders to user equipment. Further, spot beams are possible. Forexample, a satellite may be able to transmit a transponder stream to aparticular geographic region (e.g., to distribute local televisionchannels to the relevant market). Different television channels may betransmitted using the same frequency of the transponder stream to adifferent geographic region.

FIG. 1 illustrates transponder stream 180-1 and transponder stream 180-2being received by satellite dish 140. For a first group of televisionchannels, satellite dish 140 may receive a transponder stream oftransponder stream 180-1; for a second group of channels, a transponderstream of transponder stream 180-2 may be received. Television receiver150 may decode the received transponder stream. As such, depending onwhich television channel(s) are desired, a transponder stream from adifferent satellite (or a different transponder of the same satellite)may be accessed and decoded by television receiver 150. Further, whiletwo satellites are present in satellite television distribution system100, in other embodiments greater or fewer numbers of satellites may bepresent for receiving and transmitting transponder streams to userequipment.

Network 190 may serve as a secondary communication channel betweentelevision service provider system 110 and television receiver 150. Viasuch a secondary communication channel, bidirectional exchange of datamay occur. As such, data may be transmitted to television serviceprovider system 110 via network 190. Data may also be transmitted fromtelevision service provider system 110 to television receiver 150 vianetwork 190. Network 190 may be the Internet. While audio and videoservices may be provided to television receiver 150 via satellites 130,feedback from television receiver 150 to television service providersystem 110 may be transmitted via network 190.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a satellite-based television channeldistribution system. It should be understood that at least some of theaspects of such a system may be similar to a cable televisiondistribution system. For example, in a cable television system, ratherthan using satellite transponders, multiple RF channels on a cable maybe used to transmit streams of television channels. As such, aspectsdetailed herein may be applicable to cable television distributionsystems.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of television receiver 200, which maytypically be in the form of a separate device configured to be connectedwith a presentation device, such as a television. Embodiments oftelevision receiver 200 may include set top boxes (STBs). As previouslynoted, in addition to being in the form of an STB, a television receivermay be incorporated into another device, such as a television. Forexample, a television may have an integrated television receiver (whichdoes not involve an external STB being coupled with the television). AnSTB may contain some or all of the components of television receiver 200and/or may be able to perform some or all of the functions of televisionreceiver 200. Accordingly, instances in this document referring to anSTB and steps being performed by an STB may also be performed, moregenerally, by a television receiver.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of televisionreceiver 200 that is configured to record omnibus channel files andextract a television program from a recorded omnibus channel file.Television receiver 200 may be television receiver of FIG. 1 and may bein the form of an STB that communicates with a display device such as atelevision. Television receiver 200 may be incorporated as part of atelevision, such as television 160 of FIG. 1. Television receiver 200may include: processors 210 (which may include control processor 210-1and tuning management processor 210-2), tuners 215, network interface220, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 225, electronicprogramming guide (EPG) database 230, television interface 235,networking information table (NIT) 240, group database 244, digitalvideo recorder (DVR) database 245, user interface 250, PID filters 255,smart card 260, and/or descrambling engine 265. In other embodiments oftelevision receiver 200, fewer or greater numbers of components may bepresent. It should be understood that the various components oftelevision receiver 200 may be implemented using hardware, firmware,software, and/or some combination thereof. Functionality of componentsmay be combined; for example, functions of descrambling engine 265 maybe performed by tuning management processor 210-2. Further,functionality of components may be spread among additional components;for example, PID filters 255 may be handled by separate hardware fromprogram management table 257.

Processors 210 may include one or more specialized and/orgeneral-purpose processors configured to perform processes such astuning to a particular channel, accessing and causing EPG informationfrom EPG database 230 to be displayed, and/or receiving and processinginput from a user. For example, processors 210 may include one or moreprocessors dedicated to decoding video signals from a particular format,such as MPEG, for output and display on a television and for performingdecryption. It should be understood that the functions performed byvarious modules of FIG. 2 may be performed using one or more processors.As such, for example, functions of descrambling engine 265 may beperformed by control processor 210-1.

Control processor 210-1 may communicate with tuning management processor210-2. Control processor 210-1 may control the recording of televisionchannels based on timers stored in DVR database 245. Control processor210-1 may initiate recording of a television channel by sending a recordcommand along with an indication of the television channel to berecorded to tuning management processor 210-2. Control processor 210-1may not send a second record command (if additional recording is tobegin at the same time) until an acknowledgement that recording of thefirst television channel has successfully been received and initiated bytuning management processor 210-2. Control processor 210-1 may alsoprovide commands to tuning management processor 210-2 when recording ofa television channel is to cease. In addition to providing commandsrelating to the recording of television channels, control processor210-1 may provide commands to tuning management processor 210-2 thatindicate television channels to be output to audio/video decoder 233 foroutput to a presentation device, such as a television.

Control processor 210-1 may also communicate with network interface 220and user interface 250. Control processor 210-1 may handle incoming datafrom network interface 220 and user interface 250. Additionally, controlprocessor 210-1 may be configured to output data via network interface220.

Tuners 215 may include one or more tuners used to tune to televisionchannels, such as television channels transmitted via satellite orcable. In the illustrated embodiment of television receiver 200, threetuners are present (tuner 215-1, tuner 215-2, and tuner 215-3). Eachtuner contained in tuners 215 may be capable of receiving and processinga single stream of data from a satellite transponder (or a cable RFchannel) at a given time. As such, a single tuner may tune to a singletransponder (or, for a cable network, a single cable RF channel). Iftuners 215 include multiple tuners, one tuner may be used to tune to atelevision channel on a first transponder stream for display using atelevision, while another tuner may be used to tune to a televisionchannel on a second transponder for recording and viewing at some othertime. Still another tuner may be used to check various televisionchannels to determine if they are available or not. If multipletelevision channels transmitted on the same transponder stream aredesired, a single tuner of tuners 215 may be used to receive the signalcontaining the multiple television channels for presentation and/orrecording. Tuners 215 may receive commands from tuning managementprocessor 210-2. Such commands may instruct tuners 215 which frequenciesare to be used for tuning. Tuning management processor 210-2 may accessnetwork information table 240 and/or program management table 257 todetermine a correct transponder stream (a correct satellite andtransponder) to which to tune to receive a desired television channel.

Network interface 220 may be used to communicate via an alternatecommunication channel with a television service provider. For example,the primary communication channel may be via satellite (which may beunidirectional to the STB) and the alternate communication channel(which may be bidirectional) may be via a network, such as the Internet.Referring back to FIG. 1, television receiver 150 may be able tocommunicate with television service provider system 110 via a network,such as the Internet. This communication may be bidirectional: data maybe transmitted from television receiver 150 to television serviceprovider system 110 and from television service provider system 110 totelevision receiver 150. Referring back to FIG. 2, network interface 220may be configured to communicate via one or more networks, such as theInternet, to communicate with television service provider system 110 ofFIG. 1. Information may be transmitted and/or received via networkinterface 220.

Storage medium 225 may represent a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium. Storage medium 225 may include memory and/or a harddrive. Storage medium 225 may be used to store information received fromone or more satellites and/or information received via network interface220. Storage medium 225 may store information related to EPG database230, NIT 240 (rather than being stored locally by tuning managementprocessor 210-2), and/or DVR database 245. Recorded television programsmay be stored using storage medium 225.

EPG database 230 may store information related to television channelsand the timing of programs appearing on such television channels. EPGdatabase 230 may be stored using storage medium 225, which may be a harddrive. Information from EPG database 230 may be used to inform users ofwhat television channels or programs are popular and/or providerecommendations to the user. Information from EPG database 230 mayprovide the user with a visual interface displayed by a television (orother form of display device) that allows a user to browse and selecttelevision channels and/or television programs for viewing and/orrecording. Information used to populate EPG database 230 may be receivedvia network interface 220 and/or via satellites, such as satellites 130of FIG. 1 via tuners 215. For instance, updates to EPG database 230 maybe received periodically via satellite. Data from EPG database 230 maybe used to present an interface for a user to control DVR functions oftelevision receiver 200, and/or to enable viewing and/or recording ofmultiple television channels simultaneously.

In addition to being used to provide users with information aboutscheduled programming, information from EPG database 230 may be used todetermine when television programs begin and end for the purposes ofrecording. For instance, if a channel-specific file is recorded thatcontains multiple television programs, the start and end of time ofspecific television programs within the channel-specific file may bebased on the start and end times indicated in the EPG. Other data may bestored for the EPG that may be useful in managing channel-specificfiles, such as series identifiers and episode identifiers (which may beused by a television service provider to identify particular televisionprograms).

Audio/video decoder 233 may serve to convert encoded video and audiointo a format suitable for output to a display device. For instance,audio/video decoder 233 may receive MPEG video and audio from storagemedium 225 or descrambling engine 265 to be output to a television. MPEGvideo and audio from storage medium 224 may have been recorded to DVRdatabase 245 as part of a previously-recorded television program.Audio/video decoder 233 may convert the MPEG video and audio into aformat appropriate to be displayed by a television or other form ofdisplay device and audio into a format appropriate to be output fromspeakers, respectively.

Television interface 235 may serve to output a signal to a television(or another form of display device) in a proper format for display ofvideo and playback of audio. As such, television interface 235 mayoutput one or more television channels and stored television programmingfrom storage medium 225 (e.g., television programs from DVR database 245and/or information from EPG database 230) to a television forpresentation.

The Network Information Table (NIT) 240 may store information used bytelevision receiver 200 to access various television channels. NIT 240may be stored locally by a processor, such as by tuning managementprocessor 210-2. Information used to populate NIT 240 may be receivedvia satellite (or cable) through tuners 215 and/or may be received vianetwork interface 220 from the television service provider. As such,information present in NIT 240 may be periodically updated. In someembodiments, NIT 240 may be locally-stored by television receiver 200using storage medium 225. Generally, NIT 240 may store information abouta service provider network, such as a satellite-based service providernetwork. Information that may be present in NIT 240 may include:television channel numbers, satellite identifiers, frequency identifiersand/or transponder identifiers for various television channels. In someembodiments, NIT 240 may contain additional data or additional tablesmay be stored by the television receiver. For example, specific audioPIDs and video PIDs may not be present in NIT 240, a channel identifiermay be present within NIT 240 which may be used to look up the audioPIDs and video PIDs in another table, such as a program map table (PMT).In some embodiments, a PID associated with the data for the PMT isindicated in a separate table, program association table (PAT), which isnot illustrated in FIG. 2. A PAT may be stored by the televisionreceiver in a similar manner to the NIT. For example, a PMT may storeinformation on audio PIDs, video PIDs, and/or ECM (entitlement controlmessage) PIDs for television channels that are transmitted on atransponder frequency.

Table 1 provides a simplified example of NIT 240 for several televisionchannels. It should be understood that in other embodiments, many moretelevision channels may be represented in NIT 240. NIT 240 may beperiodically updated by a television service provider. As such,television channels may be reassigned to different satellites and/ortransponders, and television receiver 200 may be able to handle thisreassignment as long as NIT 240 is updated.

TABLE 1 Channel Satellite Transponder 4 1 2 5 2 11 7 2 3 13 2 4

Based on information in the NIT, it may be possible to determine theproper satellite and transponder to which to tune for a particulartelevision channel. In some embodiments, the NIT may list a particularfrequency to which to tune for a particular television channel. Oncetuned to the proper satellite/transponder/frequency, a known PMT PID maybe used to retrieve a program map table that indicates the PIDs foraudio and video streams of television channels transmitted by thattransponder.

It should be understood that the values provided in Table 1 are forexample purposes only. Actual values, including how satellites andtransponders are identified, may vary. Additional information may alsobe stored in NIT 240. Additional information on how NIT 240, asindicated in Table 1, may be used is provided in reference to FIG. 3.The same PID may be reused on different transponders.

A Digital Video Recorder (DVR) device may permit a television channel tobe recorded for a period of time. DVR functionality of televisionreceiver 200 may be managed by control processor 210-1. Controlprocessor 210-1 may coordinate the television channel, start time, andstop time of when recording of a television channel is to occur. DVRdatabase 245 may store information related to the recording oftelevision stations. DVR database 245 may store timers that are used bycontrol processor 210-1 to determine when a television channel should betuned to and recorded to DVR database 245 of storage medium 225. In someembodiments, a limited amount of storage medium 225 may be devoted toDVR database 245. Timers may be set by the television service providerand/or one or more users of television receiver 200.

The DVR functionality of control processor 210-1 may have multiplemodes. First, the DVR functionality of control processor 210-1 may beconfigured to record individual television programs selected by a userto DVR database 245. Using EPG database 230, a user may select aparticular television program. Based on the date, time period, andtelevision channel indicated by EPG database 230, Control processor210-1 may record the associated television program to DVR database 245.Second, DVR database 245 may be used to store recordings of predefinedperiods of time on one or more television channels defined by atelevision service provider. These predefined periods of time mayinclude one or more television programs. For example, primetimeprogramming on a particular television network may be recorded eachweekday night. Further, multiple television channels may be recorded forsuch predefined periods of time. Such recording of television channelsfor predefined periods of time may be defined by the television serviceprovider.

As an example of this second mode of DVR functionality, a televisionservice provider may configure television receiver 200 to recordtelevision programming on multiple, predefined television channels for apredefined period of time, on predefined dates. For instance, atelevision service provider may configure television receiver 200 suchthat television programming may be recorded from 7 to 10 PM on NBC, ABC,CBS, and FOX on each weeknight. If a television program is selected forrecording by a user and is also specified for recording by thetelevision service provider, the user selection may serve as anindication to save the television program for an extended time (beyondthe time which the predefined recording would otherwise be saved).

Further, DVR functionality may include control processor 210-1, or someother processing device of television receive 200, determining multipletelevision channels that can be recorded simultaneously using a singletuner to receive the multiple television channels. For example, a usermay select a particular television program that is to be broadcast on aparticular television channel for recording. Based on the televisionchannel selected, control processor 210-1 may access a database, such asgroup database 244, to determine one or more additional televisionchannels that are transmitted as part of the same transponder stream. Insome embodiments, rather than consulting group database 244 to determinewhich television channels can be received concurrently using a singletuner, control processor 210-1 may examine NIT 240 (or some other datastorage arrangement) to identify other television channels associatedwith the same frequency and/or satellite and transponder.

Group database 244 may store data indicating groups of televisionchannels transmitted using a same transponder stream. As such, eachgroup identified within group database 244 may be received concurrentlyusing a single tuner. The groupings of television channels stored bygroup database 244 may be transmitted to television receiver 200 by thetelevision service provider. In some embodiments, by analyzing NIT 240and/or PMT 257, control processor 210-1 may identify the groupings oftelevision channels and store them to group database 244. In someembodiments, rather than constructing group database 244, controlprocessor 210-1 (or some other processing device) may analyze datapresent in NIT 240, PMT 257, and/or some other data storage arrangementto determine television channels transmitted as part of a sametransponder stream.

User interface 250 may include a remote control (physically separatefrom television receiver 200) and/or one or more buttons on televisionreceiver 200 that allow a user to interact with television receiver 200.User interface 250 may be used to select a television channel forviewing, view information from EPG database 230, and/or program a timerstored to DVR database 245, wherein the timer is used to control the DVRfunctionality of control processor 210-1.

Referring back to tuners 215, television channels received via satellite(or cable) may contain at least some scrambled data. Packets of audioand video may be scrambled to prevent unauthorized users (e.g.,nonsubscribers) from receiving television programming without paying thetelevision service provider. When a tuner of tuners 215 is receivingdata from a particular transponder of a satellite, the transponderstream may be a series of data packets corresponding to multipletelevision channels. Each data packet may contain a packet identifier(PID), which, in combination with NIT 240 and/or PMT 257, can bedetermined to be associated with a particular television channel.Particular data packets, referred to as entitlement control messages(ECMs), may be periodically transmitted. ECMs may be associated withanother PID and may be encrypted; television receiver 200 may use smartcard 260 to decrypt ECMs. Decryption of an ECM may only be possible ifthe user has authorization to access the particular television channelassociated with the ECM. When an ECM is determined to correspond to atelevision channel being stored and/or displayed, the ECM may beprovided to smart card 260 for decryption.

When smart card 260 receives an encrypted ECM, smart card 260 maydecrypt the ECM to obtain some number of control words. In someembodiments, from each ECM received by smart card 260, two control wordsare obtained. In some embodiments, when smart card 260 receives an ECM,it compares the ECM to the previously received ECM. If the two ECMsmatch, the second ECM is not decrypted because the same control wordswould be obtained. In other embodiments, each ECM received by smart card260 is decrypted; however, if a second ECM matches a first ECM, theoutputted control words will match; thus, effectively, the second ECMdoes not affect the control words output by smart card 260. Smart card260 may be permanently part of television receiver 200 or may beconfigured to be inserted and removed from television receiver 200.

Tuning management processor 210-2 may be in communication with tuners215 and control processor 210-1. Tuning management processor 210-2 maybe configured to receive commands from control processor 210-1. Suchcommands may indicate when to start/stop recording of a televisionchannel and/or when to start/stop causing a television channel to beoutput to a television. Tuning management processor 210-2 may controltuners 215. Tuning management processor 210-2 may provide commands totuners 215 that instruct the tuners which satellite, transponder, and/orfrequency to which to tune. From tuners 215, tuning management processor210-2 may receive transponder streams of packetized data. As previouslydetailed, some or all of these packets may include a PID that identifiesthe content of the packet.

Tuning management processor 210-2 may be configured to create one ormore PID filters 255 that sort packets received from tuners 215 based onthe PIDs. When a tuner is initially tuned to a particular frequency(e.g., to a particular transponder of a satellite) a PID filter may becreated based on a PID of PMT data. The PID of PMT data packets may beknown because it is stored as part of NIT 240 or another table, such asa PAT. From the PMT data packets, PMT may be constructed by tuningmanagement processor 210-2. Table 2 provides an exemplary extract of aPMT. PMT 257 may be specific to a particular transponder. As such, iftuning to a different transponder occurs, a new PMT may be created forthe different transponder.

TABLE 2 1^(st) Audio 2^(nd) Audio Channel Video PID PID PID 4 1003 23832119 5 2993 2727 2728 7 9238 1233 0129 13 0012 9348 —

Accordingly, based on the information present in PMT 257, the audio andvideo PIDs for specific television channels may be identified. Atelevision channel may have multiple audio PIDs due to a second audioprogram (SAP), which may be in a different language.

It should be understood that the values provided in Table 2 are forexample purposes only. Actual values may vary. Additional information orless information may also be stored in PMT 257. PID filters 255 may beconfigured to filter data packets based on PIDs. In some embodiments,PID filters 255 are created and executed by tuning management processor210-2. In other embodiments, separate hardware may be used to create andexecute such PID filters. Depending on a television channel selected forrecording/viewing, a PID filter may be created to filter the video andaudio packets associated with the television channel (based on the PIDassignments present in PMT 257). For example, if a transponder datastream includes multiple television channels, data packets correspondingto a television channel that is not desired to be stored or displayed bythe user, may be ignored by PID filters 255. As such, only data packetscorresponding to the one or more television channels desired to bestored and/or displayed may be filtered and passed to eitherdescrambling engine 265 or smart card 260; other data packets may beignored. For each television channel, a stream of video packets, astream of audio packets (one or both of the audio programs) and/or astream of ECM packets may be present, each stream identified by a PID.In some embodiments, a common ECM stream may be used for multipletelevision channels. Additional data packets corresponding to otherinformation, such as updates to NIT 240, may be appropriately routed byPID filters 255. At a given time, one or multiple PID filters may beexecuted by tuning management processor 210-2.

Descrambling engine 265 may use the control words output by smart card260 in order to descramble video and/or audio corresponding totelevision channels for storage and/or presentation. Video and/or audiodata contained in the transponder data stream received by tuners 215 maybe scrambled. Video and/or audio data may be descrambled by descramblingengine 265 using a particular control word. Which control word output bysmart card 260 to be used for successful descrambling may be indicatedby a scramble control identifier present within the data packetcontaining the scrambled video or audio. Descrambled video and/or audiomay be output by descrambling engine 265 to storage medium 225 forstorage (in DVR database 245) and/or to audio/video decoder 233 foroutput to a television or other presentation equipment via televisioninterface 235.

For simplicity, television receiver 200 of FIG. 2 has been reduced to ablock diagram; commonly known parts, such as a power supply, have beenomitted. Further, some routing between the various modules of televisionreceiver 200 has been illustrated. Such illustrations are for exemplarypurposes only. The state of two modules not being directly or indirectlyconnected does not indicate the modules cannot communicate. Rather,connections between modules of the television receiver 200 are intendedonly to indicate possible common data routing. It should be understoodthat the modules of television receiver 200 may be combined into a fewernumber of modules or divided into a greater number of modules. Further,the components of television receiver 200 may be part of another device,such as built into a television. Also, while television receiver 200 maybe used to receive, store, and present television channels received viaa satellite, it should be understood that similar components may be usedto receive, store, and present television channels via a cable network.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment 300 of an on-screen interface formaking television channel group selections. In embodiment 300,television 310 is displaying an on-screen user interface 305 that allowsfor selection among multiple television channel groupings. Such anon-screen user interface 305 may be generated by a television receiverand output to a display device, such as television 310, for display.Television receiver 200 of FIG. 2 or some other television receiver maybe used to generate on-screen user interface 305.

Each individual group of television channels in the illustratedembodiment is transmitted using a single transponder stream. As such, aparticular group of television channels may be concurrently receivedusing a single tuner of the television receiver. For example, group320-1 contains four television channels. These four television channelsmay be received concurrently using a single tuner of a televisionreceiver. Therefore, the television receiver may be able to record someor all of the television channels within group 320-1 concurrently.

In illustrated embodiment 300, television channels are assigned totransponder streams based on content categories. Therefore, a firsttransponder stream may carry mostly or exclusively a particular categoryof television channels, while a second transponder stream may carry adifferent category of television programming. As such, groups forrecording may be defined based on content categories. This may be usefulto a user because a user likely to record a sports television channelmay also be likely to desire concurrent recording of anothersports-related television channel. Further, assignment to particulargroups (and corresponding transponder streams) may vary based ontelevision programming currently being shown on a television channel.For example, a particular television channel may show football on Sundayafternoons, but may broadcast drama on a weekday night.

In some embodiments, each group corresponds to a particular category ofcontent, such as music for group 320-2. However, it should be understoodthat other grouping methodologies may be used: groupings may be random,based on channel number, alphabetically, based on anticipated or pastpopularity, based on user voting, based upon previous data thatindicates if a first channel is being recorded which other televisionchannels are also likely to be recorded. It should be understood thatstill other methodologies may also be used.

In illustrated embodiment 300, the user has selected three groups forrecording: group 320-1, group 320-5, and group 320-4. Other availablegroups, such as group 320-3, have not been selected by a user. Eachgroup may require a single tuner to receive and record (and/or present)each television channel within the group concurrently. It should beunderstood, in some embodiments, a group may require two or more tunersto receive and record (and/or present) each television channel withinthe group concurrently. It should also be understood that it may bepossible for multiple groups to be received by the television receiveras parts of the same transponder stream. For example, each televisionchannel of group 320-1 and group 320-2 may be transmitted as part of thesame transponder stream. Accordingly, in such an embodiment, only asingle tuner may be required to receive every television channel ingroup 320-1 and group 320-2.

A user may use a graphical element, such as checkboxes 330, or someother form of indicator to select one or more groups which the userdesires to record. In some embodiments, a user may be able to specifyparticular television channels within the group that the user desires ordoes not desire to record. For example, referring to group 320-1,checkbox 330-1 has been checked, thus indicating that the user desiresto record all four channels within group 320-1. Checkbox 330-2 isunchecked, indicating the user does not desire the television channelsof group 320-2 to be recorded. In other embodiments, a user may be ableto select individual television channels within group 320-1 that theuser desires to record. By each of these television channels beingpresent within group 320-1, the user may be aware that each of thesetelevision channels only requires a single tuner for the televisionchannels to be recorded concurrently (thus allowing other tuners to beassigned to receiving other television channels that are transmitted aspart of other transponder streams for either recording and/orpresentation).

The dates and/or times for the recording of groups of televisionchannels and/or specific television channels within a group may beeither user-defined or television service provider-defined. In someembodiments, if a group of television channels is selected, such asgroup 320-1, the television service provider may define when thoseparticular television channels are recorded. For example, eachtelevision channel within a particular group may be recorded duringprimetime viewing hours, such as from 7 until 10 PM, on a nightly basis.Accordingly, the data that indicates when particular television channelsare to be recorded may be transmitted by the television service providerto the television receiver. Thus, the dates and/or times for which aparticular group of television channels are recorded may vary accordingto the dates and/or times selected by the television service provider.

Dates and/or times selected for recording of particular groups may varybased on when programming on the channels within the group is likely tobe desired by a user (as decided by an agent at the television serviceprovider). As an example of this, group 320-5 contains televisionnetworks that tend to broadcast new television programs during primetimeon weekdays between 7 PM and 10 PM. As such, if the user selects group320-5 for recording and the television service provider is to select thedates and times for recording, group 320-5 may be recorded on weekdaysbetween 7 PM and 10 PM. In contrast, group 320-4 may tend to showtelevision programming desired to be recorded on weekend mornings. Assuch, the television service provider may provide data to the televisionreceiver such that group 320-4 is recorded only on weekend mornings.Such arrangements may free the user from having to select when groups320 are to be recorded.

In some embodiments, the user may be able to define when individualgroups of television channels are to be recorded. For example, a usermay select a group, such as group 320-1, for recording and also specifydates and/or times for which that group of television channels is to berecorded. The user may be permitted to specify a day of the week (e.g.,any selection of days, Sunday through Saturday) and periods of timeduring the selected days of the week for which the television channelsare to be recorded. The user may be permitted to specify different datesand/or times for particular television channels within the group and/ordifferent dates and/or times for different groups. In some embodiments,a user is permitted to select as to whether dates and/or times forrecording are defined by the television service provider or by the user.

Selection element 340 may permit a user to specify whether or not theuser is to define record times. If “no” is selected, times provided bythe television service provider may be used for recording. If “yes” isselected, the user may be prompted for recording dates and/or times.When a user has selected “yes,” the default values may be dates/timesdefined by the television service provider.

The illustrated embodiment 300 of FIG. 3 shows one particulararrangement of how various groups may be presented for selection by auser via a display device by a television receiver. The layout, numberof groups, groupings of television channels, and/or graphical elementsmay vary by embodiment. As such, in other embodiments the presentationof on-screen user interface 305 may vary in content, style, and/orlayout.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment 400 of on-screen secondary televisionchannel selections. In embodiment 400, television 310 is displaying anon-screen user interface 405 that allows for selection of a specifictelevision channel for recording. Such an on-screen user interface 405may be generated by a television receiver and output to a displaydevice, such as television 310, for display. Television receiver 200 ofFIG. 2 or some other television receiver may be used to generateon-screen user interface 405.

In the illustrated embodiment 400, a user is using an EPG to select atelevision program for recording. In the illustrated embodiment, theuser has selected television program 410 for recording. This televisionprogram appears on a television channel “OO.” At least partially basedon the selection of the television program and the television channel, atimer may be created and set at the television receiver such thatrecording of television channel “OO” begins at 7:30 PM and ends at 10:00PM, such that the entirety of television program 410 is recorded. Thetelevision channel associated with the selected television channel maybe referred to as the primary television channel.

In response to the selection of television program 410, on-screen userinterface 415 may be caused to be displayed. On-screen user interface415 permits a user to select one or more secondary television channelsfor recording during a period of time overlapping the broadcast oftelevision program 410. Each of the secondary television channels fromwhich the user is permitted to select may be transmitted to thetelevision receiver using the same transponder stream as televisionprogram 410 (and thus primary television channel “OO”). A secondarytelevision channel refers to a television channel selected for recordingon a same transponder stream as the primary channel.

In the illustrated embodiment 400, the user is permitted to select amongthree television channels also transmitted to the television receivervia the same transponder stream as primary television channel “OO.” Theuser may be permitted to select one or more of these secondarytelevision channels for recording. Each of these secondary televisionchannels selected via user interface 420 may be received using the sametuner used to receive the primary television channel and televisionprogram 410. As such, an additional tuner may not be necessary to recordany of the secondary television channels presented in user interface 420broadcast during the same time period as the primary television channelis being recorded for television program 410. In some embodiments,rather than listing television channels for selection, televisionprograms appearing on those television channels may be listed forselection. As an example, rather than listing “ETV,” a user selectionmay present to the user for selection whether “Movie: Matches Set theFlame” should be recorded. This movie appears during an overlapping timeperiod on “ETV” as when television program 410 is broadcast ontelevision channel “OO.” Additional television programs overlapping thebroadcast time of television program 410 may also be listed.

A user may also be permitted via user interface 430 to indicate whetherfull television programs are to be recorded. Selection of such an optionmay prevent only portions of television programs from being recorded viasecondary recording selections. For example, television program 410,which was selected for recording by the user, is broadcast from 7:30 PMuntil 10 PM. Television channel WCVV is also transmitted using the sametransponder and is available for selection as a secondary recording bythe user. However, during an overlapping period of time as when “OO” isbroadcasting television program 410, WCVV is broadcasting televisionprogram 412 from 7 PM until 9 PM. As such, if WCVV is only recordedduring the time period of television program 410, 30 minutes at thebeginning of television program 412 may be omitted from recording. Byanalyzing locally stored EPG information, the television receiver maymodify start and stop times of recordings of secondary televisionchannels selected via user interface 420 such that only full televisionprograms are recorded. Accordingly, for example, if WCVV is to berecorded, recording may begin at 7 PM (using the single tuner). In someembodiments, rather than starting recording early, recording may bestarted late and thus only television programs 414 and 416 on WCVV maybe recorded. Similar adjustments may be made to the end time ofrecording on a secondary television channel; recording of a secondarytelevision channel may run beyond the end time for recording the primarytelevision channel selected by the user for recording or may ceasesooner. If the user indicates that full programs are not be recorded,such as via user interface 430, recording on secondary televisionchannels selected via user interface 420 may occur only during the timeperiod during which the primary selected television program is to berecorded (thus possibly resulting in portions of television programs onthe secondary television channels being omitted from recording).

The illustrated embodiment 400 of FIG. 4 shows one particulararrangement of how various groups may be presented for selection by auser via a display device by a television receiver. The layout, numberof groups, groupings of television channels, and/or graphical elementsmay vary by embodiment. As such, in other embodiments the presentationof on-screen user interfaces 405 and 415 may vary in content, style,and/or layout.

FIG. 4B illustrates an embodiment 400B of on-screen television channelselections. In embodiment 400B, a user may be permitted to enable ordisable recording of multiple television channels that are transmittedto a television receiver as part of a single transponder stream. Asingle selection by a user, such as via user interface 455, may permit auser to enable or disable recording of multiple television channels thatare transmitted as part of a single transponder stream. Enablement ofsuch multi-channel recording may involve each of the multiple televisionchannels being received over overlapping periods of time using a singletuner of the television receiver for receiving the multiple televisionchannels. For example, four television channels may be received as partof a single transponder stream by a single tuner of the televisionreceiver over a same period of time, such as from 7 PM until 10 PM. Thespecific television channels and the time periods at which thetelevision channels are recorded may be set by the television serviceprovider and transmitted by the television service provider to thetelevision receiver. For example, a user may enable recording ofmulti-channel recording using a single selection via user interface 455.The time periods and/or channels that are recorded may be determinedbased on data received by the television receiver from the televisionservice provider.

In some embodiments, if a user enables such multi-channel recording,additional options may be presented to the user, such as via userinterface 475. A user may be permitted to specify which days of the weekand/or which channels (from a predefined group of television channels)are to be recorded. Each television channel listed in user interface 475may be transmitted to the television receiver as part of a singletransponder stream (such that a single tuner of the television receivermay be used to receive each of the television channels over a sameperiod of time). Without requiring the use of an additional tuner, auser may select as many or as few television channels from userinterface 475 for recording. These television channels may be recordingduring overlapping periods of time using a single tuner of thetelevision receiver.

The user may also be able to specify particular days of the week forrecording. For example, a user may not want to record particular days ofthe week because the user does not find any television programmingappearing on the selected television channels on such days to be worthrecording for future viewing. A user may also be able to defineparticular television programs to record or not record. For example, auser may be able to specify (e.g., select from a list) a title of atelevision program that is never to be recorded. In some embodiments, auser may be able to specify that reruns (i.e., television programs thathave been previously broadcast by the television channel) are not to berecorded. Whether a television program is a rerun may be based ondetermining if an “original broadcast date” stored in the EPGinformation for a television program matches a current date: if thedates match, the television program may not be a rerun, if the originalbroadcast date is some day in the past, the television program may be arerun. Based on whether multi-channel recording is enabled by a user,the days of the week selected by a user, and/or the channels that arepart of the transponder stream selected by the user, timers may beconfigured to record the selected television programming. The specifictime periods for each television channel (e.g., from 7-10 PM) may bedetermined by the television service provider and transmitted to thetelevision receiver. The television receiver may receive from thetelevision service provider timers for each day and channel. Timers fordays and/or channels that are not selected for recording by the user maybe ignored by the television receiver. For example, in illustratedembodiment 400B, timers related to recording on Saturdays may beignored. Regardless of the number of television channels selected (froma list of television channels defined by the television serviceprovider) and/or which days of the week (or the number of days of week)selected, only a single tuner may be needed by the television receiverto receive each of the television channels, even if recording occurs oneach of the television channels during overlapping periods of time.

The illustrated embodiment 400B of FIG. 4B shows one particulararrangement of how various groups may be presented for selection by auser via a display device by a television receiver. The layout, numberof groups, groupings of television channels, and/or graphical elementsmay vary by embodiment. As such, in other embodiments the presentationof on-screen user interfaces 450 and 470 may vary in content, style,and/or layout.

Various methods may be performed using the previously detailed systemsand on-screen interfaces. FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a method500 for recording multiple television channels concurrently. Method 500may be performed using satellite television distribution system 100 ofFIG. 1 or some other form of television distribution system (which maybe cable-based). Method 500 may be performed using a televisionreceiver, such as television receiver 200 of FIG. 2. Each step of method500 may be performed by a television receiver. In addition to havingcomponents similar to television receiver 200 of FIG. 2, computerizedcomponents, such as the components of computer system 900 of FIG. 9 maybe incorporated as part of the television receiver that performs method500. Means for performing method 500 include one or more instances ofsome or all components of television receiver 200 of FIG. 2 and/orcomputer system 900 of FIG. 9.

At step 510, an indication of television channel groupings may bereceived by the television receiver. A television service provider maytransmit an indication of various television channels which aretransmitted to the television receiver via a single transponder streamand, thus, can be received concurrently using a single tuner of thetelevision receiver. Referring to satellite television distributionsystem 100, such an indication of the television channel groupings maybe transmitted to television receiver 150 via satellite or may use somealternate communication route, such as via network 190. It should beunderstood that in other embodiments of method 500, some other form ofcommunication between a television service provider and a televisionreceiver may be used, such as a cable television network. Suchindications of the groups of television channels may be stored by thetelevision receiver, such as by group database 244 of televisionreceiver 200 of FIG. 2.

In some embodiments, rather than receiving an indication of groups oftelevision channels and storing such an indication in a groupingdatabase, a television receiver may be able to analyze locally storeddata to determine which television channels are transmitted to thetelevision receiver on a particular transponder and can be receivedconcurrently using a single tuner. At step 512, such analysis mayinclude analyzing data present in an NIT, PMT, and/or some other datastorage arrangement that is stored by the television receiver thatindicates frequencies or satellites and transponders to which particulartelevision channels are assigned. As such, by determining televisionchannels that are associated with a common frequency or indicate acommon satellite and transponder, the television receiver may be able todetermine which television channels can be recorded concurrently using asingle tuner to receive a single transponder stream at step 514.Further, decryption of control words and/or descrambling using controlwords may need to be considered as to which television channels can berecorded over the same period of time. For example, it may be necessaryfor the same control word to be used for descrambling across eachtelevision channel within a group. In some embodiments, the results ofsuch a determination may be stored in a group database, such as groupdatabase 244 of television receiver 200.

At step 520, a graphical user interface (also referred to as anon-screen user interface) may be presented to a user that indicatesvarious groups of television channels for selection. As an example,embodiment 300 of FIG. 3 illustrates such a graphical user interface.Each group may contain multiple television channels. Each of thetelevision channels contained within the group may be transmitted usinga single transponder stream. As such, a single tuner may be used toreceive (for recording and/or presentation) each television channelwithin a group concurrently. Via a user input device, a user may bepermitted to select one or more groups of television channels forrecording. It may be necessary to determine whether sufficient tunersare available at the television receiver to record the groups selectedby the user. For instance, if two or more groups are selected and atleast two of the groups are to be recorded concurrently, the televisionreceiver may need to have two available tuners to assign two tuners torecord the two groups. For example, a tuner may be reserved by thetelevision receiver to allow the user to watch television channels live.As such, to select two groups, a television receiver may be required tohave at least three tuners.

At step 530, selections of one or more groups from the user may bereceived by the television receiver. In some embodiments, the user maybe restricted to selecting a particular number of groups. For example, auser may only be permitted to select a single group for recording. Inother embodiments, a user may be able to select 2, 3, 4, 5, or moregroups for recording. In some embodiments, a television service providerassigns television channels to particular transponder streams based oncategories or some other factor, such as popularity. As such, particulargroups of television channels may share characteristics, for exampleeach television channel within a particular group may be devoted tosports, news, or music to name only three examples of categories.Indications of the selected groups of television channels may be storedby the television receiver. In some embodiments, the user is permittedto select particular television channels within a group withoutselecting the entire group. As such, television channels which are notdesired by the user may be ignored and never recorded within aparticular group.

At step 540, indications of the dates and/or times which the selectedgroups of television channels are to be recorded may be received. Insome embodiments, these dates and times may be received from atelevision service provider, such as via a satellite televisiondistribution system. In various embodiments, the television serviceprovider may define when particular television channels and/orparticular groups of television channels are to be recorded. In otherembodiments, the indications of date and/or times at which groups oftelevision channels are to be recorded may be received from the user ofthe television receiver. In some embodiments, the user can provide inputindicating whether the dates and times are to be set by the user or areto be set by the television service provider. In some embodiments, thetelevision service provider may provide default times and/or dates andthe user may be permitted to modify those default times and/or dates.The indications of the dates and/or times at which the selected groupsof television channels are to be recorded may be stored by thetelevision receiver.

At step 550, timers for recording of each television channel in theselected groups of television channels may be set for the dates and/ortimes received at step 540. These timers may be stored by the televisionreceiver. After these timers have been set, it may be permissible for auser to modify the timers and/or cancel recording for a particular dateand/or times regardless of whether the dates and/or times were initiallyspecified by the user or by the television service provider.

At step 560, television channels may be recorded according to the timersset at step 550. Multiple television channels present within a groupselected by the user may be received for recording using a single tunerof the television receiver. As such, if a user selected a group oftelevision channels for recording at step 530 and the indications of thedates and/or times received at step 540 indicate that each of thosetelevision channels are to be recorded concurrently, only a singletelevision tuner may be used to concurrently receive each televisionchannel present within the group. For each television channel recordedat step 560, a separate file may be created on a storage medium of thetelevision receiver. In some embodiments, individual files are createdfor each television program that is recorded. The start and stop timesof particular television programs may be based on EPG data, such as datafrom EPG database 230 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of a method for recording multipletelevision channels concurrently. Method 600 may be performed usingsatellite television distribution system 100 of FIG. 1 or some otherform of television distribution system (which may be cable-based).Method 600 may be performed using a television receiver, such astelevision receiver 200 of FIG. 2. Each step of method 600 may beperformed by a television receiver. In addition to having componentssimilar to television receiver 200 of FIG. 2, computerized components,such as the components of computer system 900 of FIG. 9, may beincorporated as part of the television receiver that performs method600. Means for performing method 600 include one or more instances ofsome or all components of television receiver 200 of FIG. 2 and/orcomputer system 900 of FIG. 9. A television receiver that performsmethod 500 may also perform method 600.

At step 610, an indication of television channel groupings may bereceived by the television receiver. A television service provider maytransmit an indication of various television channels which aretransmitted to the television receiver via a single transponder streamand, thus, can be received concurrently using a single tuner of thetelevision receiver. Referring to satellite television distributionsystem 100, such an indication of the television channel groupings maybe transmitted to television receiver 150 via satellite or may use somealternate communication route, such as via network 190. It should beunderstood that in other embodiments of method 600, some other form ofcommunication between a television service provider and a televisionreceiver may be used, such as a cable television network. Suchindications of the groups of television channels may be stored by thetelevision receiver, such as by group database 244 of televisionreceiver 200 of FIG. 2.

At step 620, a selection of a television program to record may bereceived from a user. The selection may be made by the user via an EPGinterface. For example, referring to FIG. 4, and onscreen EPG may bepresented that allows a user to select a particular television programbroadcast by a television channel over a time period.

At step 630, multiple other television channels which are broadcast tothe television receiver using a same transponder and transponder streamas the television program selected for recording may be determined.These multiple other television channels may be determined based on theindication of groups of television channels received by the televisionreceiver at step 610, such as by analyzing a grouping database. In otherembodiments, rather than receiving an indication of groups of televisionchannels and storing such an indication in a grouping database, atelevision receiver may be able to analyze locally stored data todetermine which television channels are transmitted to the televisionreceiver via a particular transponder and can be received concurrentlyusing a single tuner. Such analysis may include analyzing data presentin an NIT, PMT, and/or some other data storage arrangement that isstored by the television receiver that indicates frequencies orsatellites and transponders to which particular television channels areassigned. By determining television channels that are associated with acommon frequency or indicate a common transponder of a same satellite,the television receiver may be able to determine which televisionchannels can be recorded concurrently using a single tuner to receive asingle transponder stream at step 630. In some embodiments, the resultsof such a determination may be stored in a grouping database, such asgroup database 244 of television receiver 200.

At step 640, an onscreen interface may be presented to a user thatidentifies the plurality of television channels determined at step 630to be broadcast on the same transponder as a television program. Assuch, at step 640, the user may be provided with an opportunity toselect among the plurality of television channels to identify whichadditional television channels are to be recorded by the televisionreceiver. Each of these additional television channels to be recordedmay be received by the television receiver using the same tuner used toreceive the television program selected at step 620. At step 650, aselection of one or more television channels that are transmitted to thetelevision receiver via the same transponder stream may be received.

At step 660, timers for recording of each user selection, including thetelevision program identified at step 620 and the television channelsindicated by the selections received at step 650, may be set by thetelevision receiver. Each timer may include a television channel, astart time, and an end time. The start and end times of timers for thetelevision channels indicated by the selections of step 650 may beadjusted according to method 700 of FIG. 7 such that recording ofcomplete television programs is ensured. In some embodiments, the startand end time of timers of the television channels indicated by theselections of step 650 are set to match the start and end time of thetime for the television program identified at step 620 (regardless ofwhether recording of one or more television programs will be truncated).

At step 670, television channels may be recorded according to the timersset at step 660. Each of the television channels/programs selected forrecording in method 600 may require only a single tuner be used forreceiving the television programming. For each television channelrecorded at step 670, a separate file may be created on a storage mediumof the television receiver. In some embodiments, files are created foreach television program that is recorded. The start and stop times ofparticular television programs may be based on EPG data, such as datafrom EPG database 230 of FIG. 2.

When embodiments of method 600 are performed, it may be desired toensure that entire television programs recorded such that beginningsand/or endings of television programs are not truncated from recording.As an example, referring to FIG. 4, a user has selected televisionprogram 410 for recording. This television program begins at 7:30 PM andends at 10 PM. Therefore a timer is set by the television receiver torecord television program 410 that has a start time of 7:30 PM and anend time of 10:00 PM. However, other television channels transmitted tothe television receiver via the same transponder and selected forrecording by the user may not have the same start and/or end times. Forexample, television program 412 on WCVV starts at 7 PM and ends at 9 PM.As such, if the user has indicated that WCVV is to also be recordedduring the recording of television program 410, the timing of recordingof television channel WCVV may be adjusted such that television program412 is recorded in its entirety or is omitted from being recorded(rather than having recording start 30 minutes into television program412).

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a method 700 for using electronicprogramming guide information to ensure entire television programs arerecorded. Method 700 may be performed using satellite televisiondistribution system 100 of FIG. 1 or some other form of televisiondistribution system (which may be cable-based). Method 700 may beperformed using a television receiver, such as television receiver 200of FIG. 2. Each step of method 700 may be performed by a televisionreceiver. In addition to having components similar to televisionreceiver 200 of FIG. 2, computerized components, such as the componentsof computer system 900 of FIG. 9 may be incorporated as part of thetelevision receiver that performs method 600. Means for performingmethod 700 include one or more instances of some or all components oftelevision receiver 200 of FIG. 2 and/or computer system 900 of FIG. 9.Method 700 may be performed in conjunction with method 500 of FIG. 5and/or method 600 of FIG. 6 to ensure entire television programs arerecorded. For example, referring to method 500, at least some steps ofmethod 700 may be performed as part of step 550. As another example,referring to method 600, method 700 may be performed as part of step660.

At step 710, a timer may be set for a first television program. Thistimer may indicate a start time, an end time, a date, and a televisionchannel. Referring to method 600, this timer may be set for thetelevision program indicated by the selection of step 620 (that is, theprimary television program selected for recording by the user). Inembodiments of method 700 as applied to method 500, rather than settinga first timer for television program at step 710, a time periodindicated for recording as received from a user or from a televisionservice provider may be accessed.

At step 720, EPG data received and stored by the television receiver maybe analyzed to determine start and end times for television programsappearing on the television channels that are to be recorded. Referringto method 600, each secondary television channel selected for recordingat step 650 may have associated EPG data retrieved and/or analyzed.

At step 730, for each selected television channel to be recorded (suchas television channels indicated to be recorded at step 650), it may bedetermined whether a television program begins at the start time of thefirst record timer or at an earlier time. For example, referring toembodiment 400 of FIG. 4, a timer for television program 410 begins at7:30 PM. On ETV, a television channel selected for recording, atelevision program begins at a same time as the start time for thetimer. However, referring to WCVV, the television program broadcast at7:30 begins at 7:00 PM.

If, at step 730, for a secondary television channel to be recorded, itis determined the start time of a scheduled television program on thesecondary television channel matches the start time of the timer set atstep 710 for the television program on the primary television channel,method 700 may proceed to step 740. At step 740, a start time for arecord timer for the secondary television channel to be recorded may beset to match the start time for the record timer of the primarytelevision channel.

If, at step 730, for a secondary television channel to be recorded, itis determined that a scheduled television program on the secondarytelevision channel will be in progress (according to stored EPGinformation) at the start time of the timer set at step 710 for thetelevision program on the primary television channel, method 700 mayproceed to step 745. At step 745, an earlier start time may be set forthe record timer for the secondary television channel to match a starttime of the television program that is scheduled to be in progress atthe start time of the timer set at step 710. The same tuner that willrecord the first television program may be used to receive eachsecondary television channel. In some embodiments, rather than settingan earlier start time, a later start time may be set for the recordtimer for the secondary television channel such that recording of theentire television program that is scheduled to be in progress at thestart time of the timer set at step 710 is omitted (thus resulting in astart time for the timer for the secondary television channel being setthat is later than the start time of the timer set at step 710). Still,the same tuner that records the first television channel will be usedfor receiving each secondary television channel.

After step 740 or step 745, step 750 may be performed. At step 750, foreach selected television channel to be recorded (such as televisionchannels indicated to be recorded at step 650), it may be determinedwhether a television program ends at the end time of the first recordtimer or at a later time. For example, referring to embodiment 400 ofFIG. 4 a timer for television program 410 ends at 10:00 PM. On ETV, atelevision channel selected for recording, a television program (“GolfNews”) ends at a same time as the end time for the timer. However,referring to “MGN”, the television program broadcast at 9:30 may gountil 10:30 PM.

If, at step 750, for a secondary television channel to be recorded, itis determined the end time of a scheduled television program on thesecondary television channel matches the end time of the timer set atstep 710 for the television program on the primary television channel,method 700 may proceed to step 760. At step 760, an end time for arecord timer for the secondary television channel to be recorded may beset to match the end time for the record timer of the primary televisionchannel.

If, at step 750, for a secondary television channel to be recorded, itis determined that a scheduled television program on the secondarytelevision channel will be in progress according to stored EPGinformation at the end time of the timer set at step 710 for thetelevision program on the primary television channel, method 700 mayproceed to step 765. At step 765, a later end time may be set for therecord timer for the secondary television channel to match an end timeof the television program that is scheduled to be in progress at the endtime of the timer set at step 710. In some embodiments, rather thansetting a later end time, a time may be set for the record timer for thesecondary television channel such that recording of the entiretelevision program that is scheduled to be in progress at the end timeof the timer set at step 710 is omitted (thus resulting in an end timefor the timer for the secondary television channel being set that isearlier than the end time of the timer set at step 710).

Steps 730 through 765 of method 700 may be performed for each secondarytelevision channel to be recorded. The previous description of method700 focuses on performing steps of method 700 in conjunction with method600. However, method 700 may also be performed in conjunction withmethod 500 of FIG. 5. If method 700 is performed in conjunction withmethod 500, rather than setting a first timer at step 710 for a primarychannel, method 700 may begin at step 720 with EPG data being analyzedfor each television program to be recorded over a period of time definedby either the television service provider or by a user. The start andend times for recording may, by default, be set for the start of theperiod of time and the end of the period of time, respectively, definedby the television service provider or user. Steps 720 through 765 may beused to adjust the start time and end time of the recording time perioddefined by the user or the television service provider such that onlycomplete television programs are recorded.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a method 800 for recording multipletelevision channels based on user input. Method 800 may be performedusing satellite television distribution system 100 of FIG. 1 or someother form of television distribution system (which may be cable-based).Method 800 may be performed using a television receiver, such astelevision receiver 200 of FIG. 2. Each step of method 800 may beperformed by a television receiver. In addition to having componentssimilar to television receiver 200 of FIG. 2, computerized components,such as the components of computer system 900 of FIG. 9 may beincorporated as part of the television receiver that performs method800. Means for performing method 800 include one or more instances ofsome or all components of television receiver 200 of FIG. 2 and/orcomputer system 900 of FIG. 9. Method 800 may include the use of userinterfaces similar to presented in FIG. 4B.

At step 810, an indication of a group of television channels that aretransmitted as part of a same transponder stream may be received by thetelevision receiver. A television service provider may transmit anindication of various television channels which are transmitted to thetelevision receiver via a single transponder stream and, thus, can bereceived during a same time period (econcurrently) using a single tunerof the television receiver. Referring to satellite televisiondistribution system 100, such an indication of the television channelgroupings may be transmitted to television receiver 150 via satellite ormay use some alternate communication route, such as via network 190. Itshould be understood that in other embodiments of method 800, some otherform of communication between a television service provider and atelevision receiver may be used, such as a cable television network. Assuch, a transponder stream may refer to a stream of television channelstransmitted using a single RF channel of the cable network. Suchindications of the groups of television channels may be stored by thetelevision receiver, such as by group database 244 of televisionreceiver 200 of FIG. 2.

At step 820, a graphical user interface may be presented to the user bythe television receiver (e.g., via a display device) that permits theuser to enable or disable multiple channel recording. A single userinput may either enable or disable recording of multiple televisionchannels, possibly over an overlapping time period (e.g., daily from7-10 PM on each of the television channels). Which television channelsand the date/time periods over which the television channels arerecorded may be defined, at least as a default, by the televisionservice provider. Each of the eligible television channels may betransmitted as part of a particular transponder stream.

At step 825, it may be determined by the television receiver whether theuser has selected to enable or disable recording of the multiplechannels received using a single tuner of the television receiver. Ifthe user has provided input that disables recording of the multiplechannels, method 800 may proceed to step 827. At step 827, no timers maybe set for future recording of the multiple channels (e.g., timer datareceived from the television service provider may be ignored or storedbut disabled). Further, any timers previously set for future recordingof the multiple channels may be deleted or disabled. If the user hasprovided input that enables recording of the multiple channels, method800 may proceed to step 830.

In some embodiments, the television channels, dates, and time periodsfor recording are determined by the television service provider. Assuch, following step 825, method 800 may proceed to step 850 in whichtimers are set according to dates, time periods, and/or televisionchannels that are specified by the television service provider via datathat is transmitted by the television service provider to televisionreceiver. In other embodiments, the user may be able to modify whichtelevision channels and/or on which dates television channels arerecorded. At step 830, another graphical user interface (or an option aspart of the same user interface) may be provided that requests the userspecify particular days on which recording of the multiple channels isto occur. The user may have the opportunity to specify any combinationof days of the week for recording. The user may be able specify thatevery day of the week is recorded. In some embodiments, the user mayprovide input for each day of the week which indicates that recording ofthe multiple channels is enabled or disabled. The time periods on theindividual days for recording may be specified by the television serviceprovider (or, in some embodiments, a user may be permitted to indicatethe desired periods of time for recording of the television channels).Each time period may include times during which multiple televisionprograms are broadcast. For example, during a time period of 7:00PM-10:00 PM a particular television channel may broadcast three to sixtelevision programs. At step 835, user input may be received by thetelevision receiver that indicates which days of the week the multipletelevision channels are to be recorded, during which recording, a singletuner for reception of the television channels is used by the televisionreceiver.

At step 840, a user interface may be provided that requests the userspecify particular television channels of the multiple channels is tooccur. The user may have the opportunity to specify any combination oftelevision channels from the predefined group of television channels.The group of television channels may include only television channelsthat are transmitted as part of a particular transponder stream. Thetelevision channels which are part of the group may have been indicatedto the television receiver at step 810. Since the television channelsare received as part of the same transponder stream, regardless of thecombination of television channels selected by the user, the televisionchannels may be received over at least an overlapping period of timeusing a single tuner of the television receiver. At step 845, user inputmay be received by the television receiver that indicates whichtelevision channels of the multiple television channels are to berecorded, using a single tuner for reception of the selected televisionchannels.

At step 850, timers may be set for recording of the television channels.Timers may only be set at the set top box for television channels of themultiple television channels selected by the user and only on daysselected by the user. The specific time periods for each day may be setby the television service provider. The time periods at which thetelevision channels are recorded may either partially or fully overlap.By the time periods at least partially overlapping, an overlapping timeperiod during which each of the television channels is to be recordedmay be defined. For example, each of the television channels may berecorded from 7 PM until 10 PM nightly. The timer set at step 850 mayresult in channel specific files being recorded for each televisionchannel selected by the user, wherein each channel specific filecontains multiple television programs broadcast during the time periodrecorded by the television receiver. Data used to create timers may bereceived from the television service provider for recording of eachtelevision channel of the multiple television channels for each day ofthe week. Data for timers related to television channels not selected bythe user and/or data for timers on days not selected by the user may beignored (or stored but disabled), such that timers are only set on thetelevision channels and/or days selected by the user. If, at some point,the user modifies the television channels and/or days selected forrecording, one or more corresponding disabled timers may be enabled forrecording. At step 855, the television receiver may record thetelevision channels in accordance with the timers set at step 850. Oncerecorded based on the timers, the recordings of the television channelsmay be available for playback and output to a display device.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a computer system 900. A computersystem as illustrated in FIG. 9 may be incorporated as part of thepreviously described computerized devices. For example, computer system900 can represent some of the components of the television receiversand/or television service provider systems discussed in thisapplication. FIG. 9 provides a schematic illustration of one embodimentof a computer system 900 that can perform various steps of the methodsdescribed herein. It should be noted that FIG. 9 is meant only toprovide a generalized illustration of various components, any or all ofwhich may be utilized as appropriate. FIG. 9, therefore, broadlyillustrates how individual system elements may be implemented in arelatively separated or relatively more integrated manner.

The computer system 900 is shown comprising hardware elements that canbe electrically coupled via a bus 905 (or may otherwise be incommunication, as appropriate). The hardware elements may include one ormore processors 910, including without limitation one or moregeneral-purpose processors and/or one or more special-purpose processors(such as digital signal processing chips, graphics accelerationprocessors, and/or the like); one or more input devices 915, which caninclude without limitation a mouse, a keyboard, and/or the like; and oneor more output devices 920, which can include without limitation adisplay device, a printer, and/or the like.

The computer system 900 may further include (and/or be in communicationwith) one or more non-transitory storage devices 925, which cancomprise, without limitation, local and/or network accessible storage,and/or can include, without limitation, a disk drive, a drive array, anoptical storage device, a solid-state storage device, such as a randomaccess memory (“RAM”), and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can beprogrammable, flash-updateable and/or the like. Such storage devices maybe configured to implement any appropriate data stores, includingwithout limitation, various file systems, database structures, and/orthe like.

The computer system 900 might also include a communications subsystem930, which can include without limitation a modem, a network card(wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, a wirelesscommunication device, and/or a chipset (such as a Bluetooth™ device, an802.11 device, a WiFi device, a WiMax device, cellular communicationfacilities, etc.), and/or the like. The communications subsystem 930 maypermit data to be exchanged with a network (such as the networkdescribed below, to name one example), other computer systems, and/orany other devices described herein. In many embodiments, the computersystem 900 will further comprise a working memory 935, which can includea RAM or ROM device, as described above.

The computer system 900 also can comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within the working memory 935, including anoperating system 940, device drivers, executable libraries, and/or othercode, such as one or more application programs 945, which may comprisecomputer programs provided by various embodiments, and/or may bedesigned to implement methods, and/or configure systems, provided byother embodiments, as described herein. Merely by way of example, one ormore procedures described with respect to the method(s) discussed abovemight be implemented as code and/or instructions executable by acomputer (and/or a processor within a computer); in an aspect, then,such code and/or instructions can be used to configure and/or adapt ageneral purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or moreoperations in accordance with the described methods.

A set of these instructions and/or code might be stored on anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as thenon-transitory storage device(s) 925 described above. In some cases, thestorage medium might be incorporated within a computer system, such ascomputer system 900. In other embodiments, the storage medium might beseparate from a computer system (e.g., a removable medium, such as acompact disc), and/or provided in an installation package, such that thestorage medium can be used to program, configure, and/or adapt a generalpurpose computer with the instructions/code stored thereon. Theseinstructions might take the form of executable code, which is executableby the computer system 900 and/or might take the form of source and/orinstallable code, which, upon compilation and/or installation on thecomputer system 900 (e.g., using any of a variety of generally availablecompilers, installation programs, compression/decompression utilities,etc.), then takes the form of executable code.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantialvariations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. Forexample, customized hardware might also be used, and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portablesoftware, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further, connection to othercomputing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.

As mentioned above, in one aspect, some embodiments may employ acomputer system (such as the computer system 900) to perform methods inaccordance with various embodiments of the invention. According to a setof embodiments, some or all of the procedures of such methods areperformed by the computer system 900 in response to processor 910executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions (which mightbe incorporated into the operating system 940 and/or other code, such asan application program 945) contained in the working memory 935. Suchinstructions may be read into the working memory 935 from anothercomputer-readable medium, such as one or more of the non-transitorystorage device(s) 925. Merely by way of example, execution of thesequences of instructions contained in the working memory 935 mightcause the processor(s) 910 to perform one or more procedures of themethods described herein.

The terms “machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable medium,” asused herein, refer to any medium that participates in providing datathat causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion. In an embodimentimplemented using the computer system 900, various computer-readablemedia might be involved in providing instructions/code to processor(s)910 for execution and/or might be used to store and/or carry suchinstructions/code. In many implementations, a computer-readable mediumis a physical and/or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may take theform of a non-volatile media or volatile media. Non-volatile mediainclude, for example, optical and/or magnetic disks, such as thenon-transitory storage device(s) 925. Volatile media include, withoutlimitation, dynamic memory, such as the working memory 935.

Common forms of physical and/or tangible computer-readable mediainclude, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other opticalmedium, any other physical medium with patterns of marks, a RAM, a PROM,EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any othermedium from which a computer can read instructions and/or code.

Various forms of computer-readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor(s) 910for execution. Merely by way of example, the instructions may initiallybe carried on a magnetic disk and/or optical disc of a remote computer.A remote computer might load the instructions into its dynamic memoryand send the instructions as signals over a transmission medium to bereceived and/or executed by the computer system 900.

The communications subsystem 930 (and/or components thereof) generallywill receive signals, and the bus 905 then might carry the signals(and/or the data, instructions, etc. carried by the signals) to theworking memory 935, from which the processor(s) 910 retrieves andexecutes the instructions. The instructions received by the workingmemory 935 may optionally be stored on a non-transitory storage device925 either before or after execution by the processor(s) 910.

It should further be understood that the components of computer system900 can be distributed across a network. For example, some processingmay be performed in one location using a first processor while otherprocessing may be performed by another processor remote from the firstprocessor. Other components of computer system 900 may be similarlydistributed.

The methods, systems, and devices discussed above are examples. Variousconfigurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures orcomponents as appropriate. For instance, in alternative configurations,the methods may be performed in an order different from that described,and/or various stages may be added, omitted, and/or combined. Also,features described with respect to certain configurations may becombined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elementsof the configurations may be combined in a similar manner. Also,technology evolves and, thus, many of the elements are examples and donot limit the scope of the disclosure or claims.

Specific details are given in the description to provide a thoroughunderstanding of example configurations (including implementations).However, configurations may be practiced without these specific details.For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, andtechniques have been shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoidobscuring the configurations. This description provides exampleconfigurations only, and does not limit the scope, applicability, orconfigurations of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of theconfigurations will provide those skilled in the art with an enablingdescription for implementing described techniques. Various changes maybe made in the function and arrangement of elements without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the disclosure.

Also, configurations may be described as a process which is depicted asa flow diagram or block diagram. Although each may describe theoperations as a sequential process, many of the operations can beperformed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of theoperations may be rearranged. A process may have additional steps notincluded in the figure. Furthermore, examples of the methods may beimplemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode,hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. Whenimplemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, the programcode or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in anon-transitory computer-readable medium such as a storage medium.Processors may perform the described tasks.

Having described several example configurations, various modifications,alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departingfrom the spirit of the disclosure. For example, the above elements maybe components of a larger system, wherein other rules may takeprecedence over or otherwise modify the application of the invention.Also, a number of steps may be undertaken before, during, or after theabove elements are considered. Accordingly, the above description doesnot bind the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A television receiver configured to recordmultiple television channels concurrently, the television receivercomprising: a tuner; one or more processors; and a memorycommunicatively coupled with and readable by the one or more processorsand having stored therein processor-readable instructions which, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processorsto: receive a selection of a television program to record, wherein thetelevision program is broadcast on a first television channel, and thefirst television channel is transmitted on a first transponder stream;set a record timer for the television program, wherein the record timerspecifies: a television channel, a date, and a time period; determine aplurality of television channels transmitted as part of the firsttransponder stream; cause a user interface to be presented via a displaydevice that permits a user to select from the plurality of televisionchannels transmitted on the first transponder stream; receive aselection of a second television channel from the plurality oftelevision channels; in response to the selection of the secondtelevision channel of the plurality of television channels, analyzeelectronic programming guide information for the second televisionchannel; determine a first start time of the first record timer occursduring a scheduled broadcast of a second television program on thesecond television channel; and set the second record timer for thesecond television channel having a second start time coinciding with thestart time of the second television program for the second televisionchannel, such that the second record timer is configured to initiaterecording prior to the record timer.
 2. The television receiverconfigured to record multiple television channels of claim 1, wherein:the first television channel is broadcast over a first period of time;the second television channel is broadcast over a second period of time;and the first period of time and the second period of time overlap. 3.The television receiver configured to record multiple televisionchannels of claim 1, further comprising processor-readable instructionswhich, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one ormore processors to: in response to the selection of the secondtelevision channel of the plurality of television channels, analyzeelectronic programming guide information for the second televisionchannel; determine a first end time of the first record timer occursduring a scheduled broadcast of a second television program on thesecond television channel; and set the second record timer for thesecond television channel having a second end time coinciding with theend time of the second television program for the second televisionchannel.
 4. The television receiver configured to record multipletelevision channels of claim 1, wherein the tuner is configured toreceive the transponder stream via a single transponder of a satellite.5. The television receiver configured to record multiple televisionchannels of claim 1, further comprising processor-readable instructionswhich, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one ormore processors to: receive data from a television service provider thatindicates groupings of television channels available to be recordedconcurrently using a single tuner; and store an indication of thegroupings of television channels available to be recorded concurrentlyusing the single tuner, wherein: the processor-readable instructionswhich, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one ormore processors to determine the plurality of television channelstransmitted on the first transponder stream are configured to cause theone or more processors to determine the plurality of television channelstransmitted on the first transponder stream available for recordingbased on the stored indication of the groupings of television channels.6. The television receiver configured to record multiple televisionchannels of claim 1, wherein the processor-readable instructions which,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to determine the plurality of television channels transmittedon the first transponder stream are configured to cause the one or moreprocessors to: compare transponder assignments for television channelsin a locally-stored data structure to determine groupings of televisionchannels transmitted on the transponder stream; and determine theplurality of television channels transmitted on the first transponderstream based on the compared transponder assignments.
 7. The televisionreceiver configured to record multiple television channels of claim 1,wherein the processor-readable instructions which, when executed by theone or more processors, cause the one or more processors to determinethe plurality of television channels transmitted on the firsttransponder stream are configured to cause the one or more processorsto: determine the plurality of television channels transmitted on thefirst transponder stream wherein, at a given time, each televisionchannel of the plurality of television channels uses a same control wordfor descrambling.
 8. A method for recording multiple television channelsconcurrently, the method comprising: receiving a selection of atelevision program to record, wherein the television program isbroadcast on a first television channel, and the first televisionchannel is transmitted on a first transponder stream; setting a recordtimer for the television program, wherein the record timer specifies: atelevision channel, a date, and a time period; determining a pluralityof television channels transmitted as part of the first transponderstream; causing a user interface to be presented via a display devicethat permits a user to select from the plurality of television channelstransmitted on the first transponder stream; receiving a selection of asecond television channel from the plurality of television channels; inresponse to the selection of the second television channel of theplurality of television channels, analyzing electronic programming guideinformation for the second television channel; determining a first starttime of the first record timer occurs during a scheduled broadcast of asecond television program on the second television channel; and settingthe second record timer for the second television channel having asecond start time coinciding with the start time of the secondtelevision program for the second television channel, such that thesecond record timer is configured to initiate recording prior to therecord timer.
 9. The method for recording multiple television channelsof claim 1, wherein: the first television channel is broadcast over afirst period of time; the second television channel is broadcast over asecond period of time; and the first period of time and the secondperiod of time overlap.
 10. The method for recording multiple televisionchannels of claim 8, the method further comprising: in response to theselection of the second television channel of the plurality oftelevision channels, analyzing electronic programming guide informationfor the second television channel; determining a first end time of thefirst record timer occurs during a scheduled broadcast of a secondtelevision program on the second television channel; and setting thesecond record timer for the second television channel having a secondend time coinciding with the end time of the second television programfor the second television channel.
 11. The method for recording multipletelevision channels of claim 8, wherein the tuner is configured toreceive the transponder stream via a single transponder of a satellite.12. The method for recording multiple television channels of claim 8,the method further comprising: receiving data from a television serviceprovider that indicates groupings of television channels available to berecorded concurrently using a single tuner; and storing an indication ofthe groupings of television channels available to be recordedconcurrently using the single tuner, wherein: determining the pluralityof television channels transmitted on the first transponder streamcomprises determining the plurality of television channels transmittedon the first transponder stream are available for recording based on thestored indication of the groupings of television channels.
 13. Themethod for recording multiple television channels of claim 8, whereindetermining the plurality of television channels transmitted on thefirst transponder stream comprises: comparing transponder assignmentsfor television channels in a locally-stored data structure to determinegroupings of television channels transmitted on the transponder stream;and determining the plurality of television channels transmitted on thefirst transponder stream based on the compared transponder assignments.14. The method for recording multiple television channels of claim 8,wherein determining the plurality of television channels transmitted onthe first transponder stream comprises: determining the plurality oftelevision channels transmitted on the first transponder stream wherein,at a given time, each television channel of the plurality of televisionchannels uses a same control word for descrambling.
 15. A computerprogram product residing on a non-transitory processor-readable mediumfor recording multiple television channels, the computer program productcomprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one ormore processors to: receive a selection of a television program torecord, wherein the television program is broadcast on a firsttelevision channel, and the first television channel is transmitted on afirst transponder stream; set a record timer for the television program,wherein the record timer specifies: a television channel, a date, and atime period; determine a plurality of television channels transmitted aspart of the first transponder stream; cause a user interface to bepresented via a display device that permits a user to select from theplurality of television channels transmitted on the first transponderstream; receive a selection of a second television channel from theplurality of television channels; in response to the selection of thesecond television channel of the plurality of television channels,analyze electronic programming guide information for the secondtelevision channel; determine a first start time of the first recordtimer occurs during a scheduled broadcast of a second television programon the second television channel; and set the second record timer forthe second television channel having a second start time coinciding withthe start time of the second television program for the secondtelevision channel, such that the second record timer is configured toinitiate recording prior to the record timer.
 16. The computer programproduct of claim 15, wherein: the first television channel is broadcastover a first period of time; the second television channel is broadcastover a second period of time; and the first period of time and thesecond period of time overlap.